24 Hr Nurse Advice Hotline (800) 581-9952

Executive Team

Karen M. Johnson, Chief Operations Officer - Easy Choice Health Plan

Karen M. Johnson, C.O.O. of Easy Choice Health Plan, is responsible for the overall plan operations, including strategic direction and the effective development of new programs for the 25,000 Medicare Advantage members, and the 48,000 Medicare Prescription Drug Plan members in California.

Karen has overall responsibility for Provider Contracting and Relations, Sales & Marketing, Medical Management, Healthplan Operations, and Regulatory Compliance. She serves as the representative of the health plan to government entities, other external agencies, and ensures compliance with all relevant regulatory agencies.

With more than 25 years of experience in the health care industry, Ms. Johnson is an innovative leader with a proven track record of developing programs and leading teams that improve the health status of vulnerable populations.

Previously, Karen served as the Senior Vice President of Clinical Services at Health Essentials, Vice President of Member Engagement for the Community and State division of United HealthCare, and President of United HealthCare Community Plan in Washington, D.C.

Karen M. Johnson also held leadership roles for Lake Health Hospital and Meridia - Cleveland Health System in Cleveland, Ohio.

Karen received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and a Juris Doctorate from Michigan State College of Law. Additionally, she holds an executive certificate from Wharton School of Business.

Koh has more than 20 years of experience in the information systems and technology environment as well as 16 years of experience in Health Care management. Prior to joining Easy Choice, Koh was the Chief Information Officer for Universal Care Inc. and Universal Care Medical/Dental Groups. Previously, he also worked in various IT roles, including as both Director and Manager of Business Application and Development, as a Programmer, and as a Data and Statistical Analyst.

Koh earned his Master of Business Administration degree in Management Information Systems from California State University, Long Beach and his Bachelor of Engineering degree in Telecommunications

Halima Bascus, Vice President, Field Health Services

Halima Bascus, RN, MBA, BSN is the Vice President of Field Health Services at Easy Choice Health Plan. She provides over-sight and direction to the CM, DM and QI Departments. Halima is a Registered Nurse with over 15 years of progressive leadership experience in the Managed Care Industry.

Prior to joining ECHP, she worked at L.A. Care Health Plan as the Director of Medical Management servicing and ensuring the coordination of care for the Medi-Cal, Healthy Kids, Medicare, DNSP, CMC, LA Covered California, PASC SEIU populations.

Halima received her Masters in Business Administration and Bachelors in Nursing degree from the University of Phoenix.

Karen Richmond, Vice President, Field Network Management

Karen has over 20 years of managed care experience on both the provider and health plan sides, including Medicare, Medicaid and Post-Acute lines of business.

Karen has worked for Molina, Arta Health Plan and Health Essentials. Her most recent work with Tenet Health was leading compliance activities.

Karen’s experience with Business Development, Operations, IT and Quality in addition to her extensive work with IPAs, aligns well with our ambitious growth agenda.

Rachael Rudd, Senior Director, State Operations

Rachael Rudd is responsible for the overall delivery of products and services to Easy Choice members across California. She leads all member operations, including enrollment, billing, outreach and customer service.

Rachael has approximately twelve years of Health Care management experience. Prior to joining Easy Choice, she worked for Arcadian Health Plan as a Manager and Supervisor, overseeing member eligibility and enrollment initiatives across multiple states. She also managed billing, data reconciliation, and provider capitation for Arcadian's MSO line of business. Earlier in her career, she worked in various industries managing customer service efforts.

Rachael earned her Bachelor of Science degree in health science, health administration and planning from California State University.

Dr. Elizabeth Dang, Director, State Pharmacy

Dr. Elizabeth Dang is responsible for designing pharmacy initiatives aimed at providing Easy Choice members with the finest pharmaceutical care in the industry. She has over 15 years of pharmacy experience and is passionate about providing top quality care to members through practical, innovative means.

Elizabeth earned her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Southern California and completed her undergraduate work at the University of California, Irvine.

Dr. Richard Garcia, Medical Director, CA-Health Services

Dr. Garcia joined WellCare early this year and has been a great addition to the team. He brings a wide array of experiences through his work in managed care for nearly 15 years.

Dr. Garcia's experience includes Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial lines of business. His recent work was leading a Medicare and commercial plan in the areas of UM, CM, and Pharmacy Management with results-oriented outcomes in HEDIS and Behavioral Health.

Dr. Garcia is board-certified, and licensed in California. Dr. Garcia is a nationally recognized author and speaker on health disparities.

Emmalou Torres-Cabrera, Director, Quality Improvement

Emmalou Torres-Cabrera leads the quality improvement efforts at Easy Choice. She has extensive experience in implementing clinical programs designed to improve our members’ health outcomes through promotion of preventive care services and management of chronic conditions.

Emmalou is a Registered Nurse with more than 15 years of progressive experience in the managed care industry. She has worked in several government-sponsored programs and genuinely passionate in caring for the most vulnerable, frail and members who need help the most. Prior to moving to California and joining Easy Choice, she worked at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York CHOICE Health Plans, a Medicare Advantage Plan serving mostly dual eligible members in the Special Needs Plan. She also worked in various quality management roles at Healthfirst, one of the largest Medicaid plan in New York City.

Emmalou earned her Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree from Manila Central University.

Elizabeth Gianini, Director, State Government Affairs

Elizabeth Gianini joined Easy Choice, a WellCare Health Plans, Inc. subsidiary in August of 2014. Prior to joining WellCare Health Plans, Inc. she spent 7 years as the Vice President of Government Relations at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute in Orlando, Florida. There she was responsible for local, state and federal relations in Florida and federal relations for California. She was the Chief of Staff to Orange County, Florida Mayor Richard Crotty from 2003- 2007 and preceding that she spent several years in Washington, DC as the Deputy Chief of Staff to the United States Trade Ambassador in the Executive Office of the President.

Over all Mrs. Gianini has more than 20 years of experience working with government officials. She graduated from Salem College in Winston-Salem, NC, in 1992. Mrs. Gianini resides in San Diego with her family.

Daniel Dugger, Director, Network Management

Daniel is responsible for network contracting and provider management across the state of California.

Prior to joining ECHP, he worked at ECHP’s parent company, WellCare of Florida, for nearly four years, in roles of increasing responsibility.

Prior to WellCare, Daniel worked at the Florida Department of Health – Children’s Medical Services, leading provider contracting, marketing and provider relations.

Iren is a Registered Nurse with over 15 years of progressive experience in the Managed Care industry. Prior to joining Easy Choice, Iren worked at SCAN Health Plan and at CalOptima, serving the needs of Medicare and Medi-Cal members.

Iren received her BSN degree from the Jersey City State College (New Jersey City University) in New Jersey.

Truong-Son Vinh, Director, Finance

Truong-Son Vinh is responsible for providing financial analyses and analytics for strategic and operating decisions. He has spent the previous 9 years with UnitedHealth Group in Medicare Advantage risk adjustment analysis and Medicare Part D finance.

Truong-Son possesses wide-ranging experience with world class finance organizations of the Danaher Corporation, Capital Group, Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), and Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO). He started his career as an engineer at Rockwell International.

Truong-Son earned his MBA in Finance from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Additionally, he has a Master of Science in Aeronautics from California Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Mathematics from University of California, San Diego.

Robert Gandara, Director, Field Sales and Marketing

Robert oversees all aspects of Field Sales & Marketing for Easy Choice Health Plans in California including strategic direction and achievement of sales enrollment goals through W2 and 1099 channels, coordinates product development and oversees daily activities of the sales & marketing departments.

Robert has 25+ years of health care Sales and Marketing sales leadership experience, having worked for Fortune 200 companies such as Anthem and United HealthCare.

Robert served our country as a Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps and received his Bachelor of Science Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, Los Angeles.
He also holds certificates in Managerial Development from the University of Southern California and has completed post-graduate studies from the University of California, Los Angeles.

Kimmberly Ensley, Director, Market Compliance Officer

Kimmberly has over 15 years of health care compliance experience. Kimmberly's previous compliance roles included Senior Director of Ethics & Compliance for Fresenius Medical Care for the eastern United States for over 8 years. Prior to that, Kimmberly worked for Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) and Lifepoint Hospitals as a compliance auditor and program assessor.

Prior to entering into the health care industry, Kimmberly was employed by United Parcel Service for over 17 years and performed in a variety of management positions including operations, industrial engineering, IT, finance and accounting.

Kimmberly is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville with a B.S. in Mathematics Education. Kimmberly is CHC certified by Health Care Compliance Association since 2006 and PMP certified by The Project Management Institute since 2003.

Kimmberly is a 13 year veteran of the United States Air Force where Kimmberly served on active duty and reserves as both an enlisted member and Commissioned Officer.